Elminster's Hideout

"Notify next of kin before trespassing."
- Written on the exterior of the metallic sphere.

Overview

Elminster's hideout, referred to as Safehold, was originally created by the archmage Elminster to keep an eye on his old foe, the ex-mercenary Firebrand Flametongue. Once he was sure that the red dragon truly meant to retire, he converted the structure into a retreat and a safehouse to which he could return if he needed to rest and recuperate, or just get away from the demands of the people around him.

Description

Located within 100 miles (160 kilometres) of the center of Coliar, Elminster's Safehold resembles a spherical globe made from a bright shiny metallic substance. The globe is free of any tarnish or corrosion, and tends to reflect all light striking it. Nearly 250 feet (76 meters) in diameter, the globe makes a deep and constant humming noise that could rattle the teeth loose of any who come too close. The globe slowly revolves around a large floating island at the exact center of Coliar, while spinning around it own axis, causing a rainbow pattern of light to occasionally reflect off its surface, which appears almost solid.

Within the sphere is a pocket dimension shaped like a 20-foot (6 meter) high octagonal chamber. Leading off from the chamber are four doors, with shelving built into the walls between each door. The shelves store a vast selection of scrolls and potions kept there by Elminster in case of emergencies. The chamber is also furnished with a bed, beneath which is hidden several spellbooks containing the original copies of every single spell collected or created by the archmage during his long life.

Defenses

The sphere is warded against scrying and other intrusive divination spells, leading most spellcasters to believe the sphere is nothing more than a solid astronomical body. If a detect magic spell is cast on the surface of the sphere, a section of glowing red text is revealed which can only be read using magic, such as a comprehend languages spell.

To access the pocket dimension within the sphere, Elminster created a unique version of the contingency spell, called Elminster's evasion. The spell was designed to instantly teleport him into Safehold should any one of the following conditions be met: if he died; if he lost either his mental or physical faculties; if he lost both of his upper limbs; if his entire body was destroyed; or if he uttered the command word "Thaelle".

However, should he still wish to enter Safehold, and the above conditions could not be met, Elminster designed a fall-back method of entering the refuge. The prospective entrant had to touch the orb without uttering a sound, using only one hand bearing a ring with Elminster's name magically inscribed into the band. If all three conditions were met, the person touching the orb was enveloped and safely transported into Safehold.

Activities

Elminster converted the pocket dimension from a simple refuge into a dimensional intersection by creating four portals that resemble doorways. Each doorway leads to a different destination, and while they allow Elminster to look through them into the other locations, they themselves cannot be seen from the other side.

• The first door leads to a room inside Elminster's castle on Toril, allowing him to return home without expending a spell;
• The second door leads to the temple of Mystra on the island nation of Evermeet;
• The third door leads to a pristine forest teeming with wildlife known to the locals as Yellowstone;
• The fourth door leads to the library of a personal friend and author named Ed Greenwood.

History

When the draconic mercenary and all-round terror, Firebrand Flametongue, decided it was time to retire 300 years ago, he immediately flew to the home of the one person he respected and knew he could trust, Elminster of Shadowdale. After a great deal of talking and smoking of pipes, he and his old foe came to an agreement: Elminster would seek out a place that Firebrand could live out the rest of his days in peace, and in return, the dragon vowed never to ravage the land again.

The solution that Elminster eventually settled on, was to teleport Firebrand to the center of the gas giant Coliar, where the mercenary established a new home on a large floating island. A few months later, Elminster built his own hideaway on Coliar, from where he could keep an eye on his former enemy (and escape the constant interruptions from his friends and family). After monitoring Firebrand's behavior for over a century, Elminster felt that the red dragon had truly changed, and decided to convert the hideout into a refuge or "Safehold".

Appendix

External Links

• Elminster's Hideout article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

References

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